Subject Area: Environmental Humanities

Environmental Advocacy and Activism offers students an opportunity to examine how environmental politics are played out within society. Students will examine the intersection of environmental concerns, power relations, advocacy and activism. The study of advocacy and activism campaigns and case studies will focus on mapping the evolution of a controversy, teasing out the distinctions between advocacy and activism, analysing the role of popular culture, managing social and traditional media and identifying successful interventions that have an impact on environmental policy and decision making processes. Key questions that will be explored during the course include 'How do citizens make sense of and respond to initiatives that have potentially damaging consequences for society?; How do science, business and activists attempt to persuade?'; 'How are power relations invoked, challenged and negated within environmental advocacy and activist campaigns?'; and What role does popular culture play in creating and sustaining particular valuing systems and cultures?'